Changing spark plugs

[soundman98]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

In a weird way it's kind of boring. Not exactly, but I don't know how to express what I mean. I've always taken pride in saving shitboxes from their previous owners' neglect.

i know what you mean. i'm suffering withdrawal from not needing to go to the pick-a-part yard every once a month. i used to spend around 3-4 hours just walking around and finding parts from other vehicles that work...

i had a line on a rotted out toyota truck for $50. then his dadtried helping and put a starter and new tires on it..

it's still sitting in the back of their yard, been thinking about going back to offer them $800...

do i need a 3rd vehicle? a rotted out truck on top of it? no, not at all, but what i've got is almost too nice for me sometimes, i need a beat up piece of junk!

[cmiovino]

I'll have to change the plugs at some point on my 2017 with ~39k miles, but seeing $1300 for dealerships to do this is nuts. I've done the plugs on my 2004 WRX and a few other NA Subarus. Looking at the clearance the twin's motor has on the body, it's close, but not impossible. EJ251's on like Foresters and such have more clearance than WRX/STI and the twin's boxer seems to be on par with those.

In a nutshell, I usually use your standard spark plug socket, 3" extension (I think), and ratchet. Connect your socket and extension and insert them after removing anything above that's blocking you. THEN put your ratchet on. It'll be tight in terms of clearance. Then just take your time, break it loose, and once it's lose, you can ditch the ratchet and use just the socket and extension. Reverse the process for getting the new one back in. It's that simple IMO.

Even if you're taking your good old time, you're looking at an hour to an 2 hours max. $1300 is just crazy, nuts-o.

[Th3rdSun]

Originally Posted by cmiovino

I'll have to change the plugs at some point on my 2017 with ~39k miles, but seeing $1300 for dealerships to do this is nuts. I've done the plugs on my 2004 WRX and a few other NA Subarus. Looking at the clearance the twin's motor has on the body, it's close, but not impossible. EJ251's on like Foresters and such have more clearance than WRX/STI and the twin's boxer seems to be on par with those.

In a nutshell, I usually use your standard spark plug socket, 3" extension (I think), and ratchet. Connect your socket and extension and insert them after removing anything above that's blocking you. THEN put your ratchet on. It'll be tight in terms of clearance. Then just take your time, break it loose, and once it's lose, you can ditch the ratchet and use just the socket and extension. Reverse the process for getting the new one back in. It's that simple IMO.

Even if you're taking your good old time, you're looking at an hour to an 2 hours max. $1300 is just crazy, nuts-o.

I'm willing to bet that if I called up the Subaru dealership,it would be a hell of a lot less,but probably still way overpriced. $1300 from Toyota is flatout robbery. I guess because it's the only boxer engine that they service,they think that they can charge outlandish prices.

[FLYFISHR]

I had to have my car towed into the dealership in February as it wouldn’t start because I had to leave it sit outside for two weeks and I ended up killed the battery trying to get it started. The cost for a new battery and spark plugs plus labour $480.00 Canadian. Scarbough Subaru have always been fair with me.

[Qwimby1]

Mine is due for plugs and I'm not up to doing them myself. I have an excellent wrench who charges, I think, $150 pr hr. Can anyone guestimate how long that job should take?

[WNDSRFR]

When is it due for new plugs?
My car has 220,000 miles on it. Is it time to change them yet?

Car runs like new. Always has. Why should I fix what ain't broke?

[Qwimby1]

Well, I know that's a valid position. Some have said to wait till the igniters start to go. I'd be very interested in any other opinions on the subject.

[Qwimby1]

It's at 59K now, and has been running just fine on E85 with a stage 2 OFT tune Lately, though, it has been stumbling and stopping on the first cold-start attempt. It always starts on the second push of the button, and sometimes I can get it to go on the first if I feed in just a tiny bit of throttle. I'll be interested to see if new plugs will change that.



I'm also wondering about fuel filter. There's a You Tube of a guy putting a new element in the pump, but my Toyota dealer will only sell me a whole pump and can't give me a part number for a filter. Looks like it's a miserable job as well. Presumably the manual says change at 75K or 6.5 years. Mine is about 9 years now.

[Dadhawk]

Originally Posted by Qwimby1

Well, I know that's a valid position. Some have said to wait till the igniters start to go. I'd be very interested in any other opinions on the subject.

Mine is also at 210K ish. I changed the plugs at 100K because it was when I got the valve spring recall done and the dealer did it for cost of the plugs.

At this point, I'll change them when they need changing. Right now it runs like a top.

[Qwimby1]

How will you know when they need changing? I'm really interested in your input. I've seen some pics of those that came out after 60 and they didn't look all that bad, but I sure would change them if it was an easy job.

[canyons]

FWIW -- if you have aftermarket parts crowding the engine bay (SC, catch can etc etc) --the 'lift one side of the engine at a time' method works.

Pic of driver's side of engine bay before work(strut bar already removed)


.
After lifting the left (dr) side of engine ~2" -- you have about 2.5" of room between the cyl head and the frame:



.
Tips cribbed from others which helped me:

1. Stuff a rag into the gap below the coils to catch dropped items

2. Buy yourself a sacrificial 3"long 3/8 extension and grind off the detent ball so the the extension will easily let go of the 14mm socket used on the plug. Expect to be putting the socket, extension and ratchet in separately and piecing them together each time.

3. You want a magnetic pickup to retrieve the socket and the loose plugs from the plug wells. Some guys used a magnetic bit holder.

4. Zip tie cables & lines gently out of the way. I recommend yellow or orange zips to make them easy to spot & remove when done.

5. Keep a list of stuff you remove or loosen during the teardown & removal so you can restore it when buttoning the car back up. Voice notes work too. I had to pull the pipe boots for supercharger intake to enable the engine block to lift easily; and disconnect catch can and some fuel lines temporarily on the Dr side.

6. Use a torque wrench on all vital bolts as well as the plugs themselves. The service manual PDF has the correct torque values.

7. In addition to loosening the motor mount nuts, one video recommended loosening the transmission mount (driveshaft) bolts halfway back on the car.
IDK if this is strictly necessary but it's only 4 more bolts, small time investment to mitigate risk of damage. This worked well for me.

Take your time and double check each step. You don't want to finish buttoning the car up again only to find you botched something and have to tear it apart again.

[Wally86]

Originally Posted by canyons

6. Use a torque wrench on all vital bolts as well as the plugs themselves. The service manual PDF has the correct torque values.

Spark Plug | 12.5 ftlb

https://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85760

[Spuds]

Originally Posted by canyons

7. In addition to loosening the motor mount nuts, one video recommended loosening the transmission mount (driveshaft) bolts halfway back on the car.
IDK if this is strictly necessary but it's only 4 more bolts, small time investment to mitigate risk of damage. This worked well for me.

I would instead recommend the pair of nuts that connect the transmission mount to the cross member. Seems like a better cradle and the rubber bits can do their flexy thing.